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Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) says that South Africa’s population has increased by more than one million people since the 2011 census.

In a press statement, statistician general, Pali Leholhla, says according to its mid-year estimate, the country now has a population of 52.98 million people.

Lehohla explains that the total number of people living with HIV is estimated at approximately 5.26 million this year. He says that for adults aged 15-49 years, an estimated 15.9 percent of the population is HIV-positive.

According to Accenture South Africa, food production in sub-Saharan Africa must rise by 50 percent to feed an estimated population of 1.3 billion by 2030.

Managing director of strategy and sustainability at Accenture South Africa, Grant Hatch, points out that investment of about US$93 billion a year is needed to develop the infrastructure required to support the region’s agricultural sector.

According to Census 2011, incomes of black South African households have surged 169 percent in a decade, but whites still take home six times more money 18 years into all-race democracy.

Released by Statistics South Africa, the census, which puts the population at 51.8 million people, an increase of 6 950 782 million since the 2001 count, also found that the household incomes are more than doubled in the last 10 years.

The report further states that, "Black African-headed households were found to have an average annual income of R60 613 in 2011."

Experts say nearly all the expected surge in the world's population from seven to nine billion people by 2050 will come in urban areas of Asia and Africa.

They say planning for it will be crucial to limit the spread of slums and related social and environmental problems.

According the International Institute on Environment and Development, many fast-growing cities today have informal settlements and black-market economies "Is in part a testament to failure to accommodate and plan for urban growth effectively and fairly."

The world’s surging population is a big driver of environmental woes but the issue is complex and solutions are few. This is according to experts attending a four-day meeting on Earth’s health, Planet Under Pressure.

Director of the Institute of Population Ageing at the University of Oxford, Sarah Harper, states that, “If you have economic development and you educate women, and women get labour market opportunities, they tend not only to reduce the number of children but crucially to delay when they start having children.”

The South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) says that there would be more than 4.4 million more people in South Africa if it were not for the AIDS pandemic.

SAIRR points out that, "The data shows that 31 percent of all deaths in 2011 were AIDS-related. By 2015, this proportion will have risen to 33 percent. In 2025, there will be 121 percent more AIDS deaths than there were in 2000."

The South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) says that fertility rates in South Africa are on the decline.

In its latest survey, the SAIRR found that there will be a drop of 17 percent in the birth rate between 2010 and 2040.

SAIRR researcher, Thuthukani Ndebele, points out that the low fertility rates combined with reduced mortality and increased life expectancy, will result in a growing proportion of older people thereby decreasing numbers of children and young people.

As the United Nations (UN) marked the birth of the seventh billionth baby, the world body is warning that without adequate urban planning, the world will not be able to cope with the population explosion.

UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, says out of the projected nine billion, seven billion will be living in cities, adding that serious urbanisation problems will emerge, something the world cannot cope with.